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Topic: First Hello and a Question... (Read 3667 times)

I used to handle Gallé in the past and it is very tricky to tell the real from the better fakes in the flesh. It is not so much a case of shouting witch as an observation that yours looks well enough made to be genuine. Gallé still shows up in boot fairs and as most collectors today cannot handle it easy it is to presume a fake. No one expects a bargain of that magnitude but we have found a few on this board - in every case it did need a hands on check to confirm. There is only so much that can be done from pictures.

The Tip Gallé are very good and not cheap but once they get onto the second hand market can become very cheap. eBay is a good source of fakes for most of the major French makers and many have burnt their fingers.

I recently bought a fake on eBay that is good enough to fool by image although I knew it was not right. Handling it, no one could doubt it to a fake - but as no one had bid I got it for opening price just in order to study in depth.

Frank, That really is a beauty. That Chasen fellow gets his hands on quite a few lovely pieces... makes me wonder where he shops :lol: I contacted him about my piece but he wanted $100 for an opinion based on my online photos and description :shock: so... I passed.

My impression that it was modern Chinese was based on the garish paucity of colours, and I have seen this on several examples. I have never seen real Galle in these colours. However, the only real Galle I have seen has been in museums, in reference books, and at the Art Nouveau exhibition that was on in the V&A a few years ago. I have never handled any.The stuff I've seen that is real, just SCREAMS quality. It's not something I can really identify, it just talks to me so loudly that I worry everybody else can hear it too! :oops: I can't tell from pictures. The moth bowl is one I have a book picture of, but the reality was something else. I've seen loads of stuff in antique fairs etc. but it has never had any quality, I have always just assumed there were a lot of fakes!

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Cheers, Sue (M)

"In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of."-- Confucius

Gallé was still readily available at main and provincial auction to the 80's. Fakes abounded but so did the real. Mostly it was the duller cheaper pieces but some brightly coloured were made to and obviously these tended to be most popular. Chasen's prices are substantially more than in those days so clearly a great investment. Hopefully your piece turns out to be a good one, but if not, as Ivo says, it is still a good example of cameo glass.

Chopin, I definitely appreciate that there are a vast number of fakes out there and I'll not be certain as to the authenticity of this one until it's handled by a professional who can tell me one way or the other. Galle' did make several two-color pieces, usually in the smaller examples. Obviously, the more colors used, larger size and deeper levels of detail improves the value of a pieces because of the work that went into creating them... except, of course, in which cases miniatures are specifically sought for the scarcity. Pieces found in museums or in art books are going to be of the highest level of inticracy and workmanship and I think that lovers of this glass get accustomed to seeing those as the only "real" Galle'. Sadly, most of us will not be able to afford a genuine, museum quality Galle but, an authentic cabinet vase just might be within range.

My first picture was taken with a flash in an attempt to capture the level of detail in the flowers. I'm afraid, that self same flash distorted the quality of the colors as well so I can see how you came to your conclusions. I can tell you, though, that when I purchased this piece it was practically sight unseen as the single picture available was miserably blurry and practically no description was given except to attest to it's lack of damage or repair. The seller actually said that they had found no "makers marks". I just went with my gut. When it arrived, however, I was dumbfounded and my heart leapt. I just knew that I held something special. Despite it's diminutive stature, or perhaps due to it, I found the level of detail stunning (I do so wish I could properly capture this quality at 72ppi to share). There are finer examples, to be sure, but if this is indeed a genuine piece of Galle' artwork then I'm privileged to have it. At this point, though, it's all conjecture. Until I can have it handled and either confirmed or refuted, none of us will know for sure. If it turns out to be false, I'm only out a few bucks - no tragedy there. The knowledge I've gained from the research it's inspired is already worth much more than I paid for the piece. If, however, it turns out to be genuine... well... that's just exciting, isn't it? I look forward to having the truth about it and sharing that truth with you. I've got an appointment this weekend to have it seen. So, by Monday I'll be able to attest to it's authenticity or not.

Thanks, Bidda

Quote from: "chopin-liszt"

My impression that it was modern Chinese was based on the garish paucity of colours, and I have seen this on several examples. I have never seen real Galle in these colours. However, the only real Galle I have seen has been in museums, in reference books, and at the Art Nouveau exhibition that was on in the V&A a few years ago. I have never handled any.The stuff I've seen that is real, just SCREAMS quality. It's not something I can really identify, it just talks to me so loudly that I worry everybody else can hear it too! :oops: I can't tell from pictures. The moth bowl is one I have a book picture of, but the reality was something else. I've seen loads of stuff in antique fairs etc. but it has never had any quality, I have always just assumed there were a lot of fakes!

Gallé was still readily available at main and provincial auction to the 80's. Fakes abounded but so did the real. Mostly it was the duller cheaper pieces but some brightly coloured were made to and obviously these tended to be most popular. Chasen's prices are substantially more than in those days so clearly a great investment. Hopefully your piece turns out to be a good one, but if not, as Ivo says, it is still a good example of cameo glass.

As well as the Japanese, Romanian and Chinese examples of Galle-type items, a few years ago there was a maker in America who also produced all sorts of reproductions of French cameo wares. He was also considering producing repros of English cameo items, too!

Unfortunately, I have lost my details of that maker (perhpas it was all on one of my earlier computers and I neglected to make backup copies). However, he had a website which as well as showing his range, included direct copies of large extracts of text from books, all without reference to author or publication. At the time he sold via eBay and always headed his listings as "Repro ...". But he never marked the actual items in any way to show their status. That means there could well be lots of examples now in the secondary market which have no indication of their original production.

The colours he used were mostly the "typical" reds, oranges and yellows that are also seen in European and Chinese versions.

In response to an email question I sent him, he simply said something along the lines that all his items were clearly marked in the descriptions as repro. His website and eBay listings disappeared after a while.